Communicate. Empower. Transcend.

Make waves.

"Opt-in" to receive weekly essays and discuss meaningful life lessons. I invite you to join me in this conversation. My goal is to create a ripple effect that will reach those who feel "stuck" in life.

Thanks! Check your inbox to confirm your email, then you have successfully subscribed!

How does one deal with a huge resume gap? How does a woman transition from the domestic, family life to the working world after a considerable absence? Inevitably, for women who have had the luxury to stay home with their children, or who were able to work part-time, getting back on the serious career horse requires further training and education. Often, tech skills are not up to snuff. The learning curve—in all arenas—can be daunting.

This year, the asymmetry of daylight and dark feels symbolic as our country emits a darkness of spirit in the wake of this past election cycle. Suspicion and hateful rhetoric lingers, and we remain divided. Friends “unfriend” me. Family members distance themselves; and I retreat, protected by “my clan.” It feels safer to surround myself with like-minded people even when I know this isolation causes tunnel-vision and I only see what is directly in front of me.

NOTE: If you’re still undecided about where to cast your vote, I encourage you to treat your indecision like a research assignment (a paper you might write for an advanced class in college). Do your homework! Go to as many different sources as possible to uncover as much reliable and unbiased information as you can. (This will be the hardest part, finding unbiased reporting.) Read it. Study it. And make your decision based upon what you believe is the best pathway for all people, not just those who believe the same as you do, but for ALL Americans (that’s tough, too, empathizing with people unlike yourself).

We called ourselves The Women of Chadbourne — one a newlywed, one a single mother, one an actor returning from L.A.; plus a south Texas girl whose boyfriend held a diamond ring in his pocket; and a mother of two boys who had no idea that in a few short months her husband would leave her.

Our gathering quickly ignited and stories poured forth as freely as wine — stories of marriage, bosses, children, lovers, and ex-lovers. Somewhere around midnight, we whittled down the conversation and focused our attention on one subject. We asked what is the one, most important trait to look for when choosing a mate?

At this moment swift water flows across the lower level of our dock and the sky rumbles above me. From my desk I see a tiny swath of sky above the tree line, just enough to have an immediate view of what’s to come, not much else. The next wave dances on the radar and I long for a wide-open horizon, one that offers an expansive view (with plenty of time to take cover from the storm).

Generally speaking, I am not a cranky person, so this after-effect of the flu truly puzzled me. It seemed that everything and everyone set me on edge, and irritation quickly turned to anger. I felt myself spiraling further down the rabbit hole and decided to stay away, to surrender, retreat and suffer through this on my own. At one point I wondered if the inflammation had settled in my brain; still my work remained so elusive.

That’s when writer’s block set in, and from past experience, I expected a deep and long depression to follow. Dark thoughts pulled at me and I succumbed to gravity. Emotional gravity — a small voice spoke inside my head. At that moment I experienced a keen awareness and realized that emotional gravity pulled me downward, that I allowed the illness, the fatigue, and anger to press upon me and keep me down.